By Dan Weber
NKyTribune sports reporter
Back in 1968 when Louisville Trinity was winning the first of its record 28 large-school Kentucky state football championships, the town of Union was just an unincorporated Boone County wide spot in the road on US 42 for folks heading to Louisville.
By 1972, when the Shamrocks were winning their second state title, Union (named, they think, as the connection place between Big Bone and Florence with folks living there since the 1700’s and originally incorporated in 1838), had re-incorporated itself after a lack of interest in staying as an official town for more than a century. And why not, with a surging population of 233 in the 1970 census.
But a high school? With a football team? Are you kidding? Wait, a high school that’s the third largest in Kentucky. And with a top-ranked football team – the Ryle Raiders — the pick to deny Trinity its record 29th state title and bring back Northern Kentucky’s first-ever in the largest school category – now Class 6A.
What world is this?
Wait, there’s more? You’re saying there are two high schools in Union, population 7,500? And the other one, Cooper High – will be playing for the Class 5A state title in the second largest school category in a doubleheader at 8 p.m. Saturday right after the Ryle-Trinity game at 4.
It’s difficult to imagine which would be more unlikely – Northern Kentucky’s Ryle knocking off defending state champion Trinity in a matchup of 12-2 teams for the first-ever large school football title here or two teams from the town of Union playing for back-to-back state titles at UK’s Kroger Field on the same day?
We’ll go with a Northern Kentucky team beating Louisville Trinity. The Shamrocks have won football state championships in eight different decades. Northern Kentucky? Zero. Only two Northern Kentucky teams have made it to a Class 6A state championship game – Simon Kenton in 2008 and Dixie Heights in 2014 – and they lost by a combined score of 95-14. The team that beat them? Louisville Trinity.
To put this into context for Northern Kentucky, Highlands, Beechwood, Covington Catholic, Newport Central Catholic and the six other Class A champions have dominated to some extent with their 66 state football titles in all but the highest-enrollment class.
And then along came Ryle. And now here we are.
Ryle and Trinity have one common opponent this season – Louisville St. Xavier – and the edge there goes – slightly – to an improving Ryle. Both lost in Game 6 at St. X – Ryle by 31-24 while Trinity fell 16-10 — in the regular season. But then Ryle displayed how much the Raiders had improved by beating St. X, 38-17, in the playoffs three weeks ago in Union.
“That’s kind of deceiving,” Ryle coach Mike Engler says. “We had several chances to win that first game and our kids came away from that game with a lot of confidence. They knew they were better (than St. X),” which is how it proved out in the playoffs.
Advantage Ryle.
“They knew it wasn’t about the name on the jersey,” Engler says. “Now if we hadn’t played St. X . . . “ But they have. Thanks to Engler’s scheduling philosophy.
“I’m a firm believer in playing a strong schedule,” he says of decisions to face his coach at Meade County – Highlands’ Bob Sphire – in both an August scrimmage and an early season game. “Last year we played four teams that made the finals,” Engler says. And he coached with Sphire when Lexington Catholic won a pair of state titles.
So Saturday may be something new for Ryle, but not for Engler, who really likes this team. When asked about Trinity’s three shutouts in four playoff games, he responds with: “We could have had four shutouts if we kept our starters in.” Both teams are coming into this game pleased with how they’re doing.
“They’ve got some pretty good players,” Engler is told, “but maybe none as good as (220-pound junior linebacker/running back Jacob) Savage.”
“Not many do,” Engler says of his blue chip prospect who leads Ryle in scoring (158 points), rushing (1,006 yards) and tackles (134).
Leading the Raiders in sacks (18.5) and tackles for loss is 6-foot-3, 250-pound edge defender Dillon Smith, who signed with Louisville Wednesday.
Junior quarterback Nathan Verax has settled into his role succeeding his brother, Logan, at that spot with 627 yards on the ground and seven TDs and 2,105 yards passing on 172 of 281 for 22 TDs against 10 interceptions.
His top receiver is 6-3 senior Landon Lorms with 49 catches for 811 yards and 11 TDs. But don’t forget junior Dylan Lee, who has 44 catches for 549 yards and seven TDs and would have a lot more than that if Lorms weren’t so strong a target.
“In the St. X game when Landon was hurt, Dylan caught 10 passes,” Engler says. “And he’s had five interceptions in the last six games.”
There’s another junior who’s a bit under the radar, Engler says of Gavin Lyons, who does a little bit of everything from his strong safety/slot receiver spots. “He may be our best overall football player, he’s so smart, he gets people lined up right.”
Which takes us to the keys in this game. “With so much talent on offense and defense, it’s whoever who stays disciplined,” Engler says, “whoever maintains ball security.”
Trinity is “very well-coached, very disciplined and strong up front,” Engler says. And as their playoff shutouts show, they win with their defense.
In other words, no turnovers. With the temperature expected to get up to 45 Saturday, the cold may not be as much of a factor.
But something else might be. Engler’s high school coach at Meade County was none other than Larry Miller, also a Meade County alum and the same man who led Simon Kenton to break the curse for the Ninth Region in winning the Sweet 16 in 1980.
It had been 64 years before Northern Kentucky won its first state boys basketball title. And it did so with a Meade County guy as its coach.
Now in attempting to win its first large school state football title, something Northern Kentucky has not managed since the first state championships in 1959 – we’ll do the math for you — that’s 65 years.
Close enough for another Meade County guy — Engler.
“Maybe that’s a good omen for me,” he says.
Northern Kentucky can only hope so.
Contact Dan Weber at dweber3440@aol.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @dweber3440.